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It didn't matter that conditions in the 2010 ARRL DX SSB Contest weren't as good as two weeks earlier in the CW leg. It also didn't matter that one of the operators hadn't contested in years, as a pair of retired US Navy Admirals, K0DQ and N4OC, still found a winning Multi-Single formula at "Papa Forty Navy".

It's back to normal in 2010 for the Russian DX Contest, after three years in which it was a major qualifying contest for this year's World Radiosport Team Championships to be held outside Moscow. Not only can you chase Russian ops this weekend, but there are also three state QSO Parties in the US to choose from in Oklahoma, Virginia and North Dakota.

In the wake of public criticism of contesters by a top IARU official, a radio-sport.net review has found that hundreds of competitors in Europe, Africa and Northern Asia have violated the licensing rules of their country by operating on frequencies not allocated to them on the low end of the 160 meter band.

After a focus last weekend on Canada and the United States in the ARRL SSB test, this weekend CQ BERU will be the order, as the 2010 Commonwealth Contest arrives with its unique theme of contacts only between stations in the British Commonwealth and Territories. John Sluymer VE3EJ is the defending Single-Operator BERU champ.

In an unusually public criticism of contesters by a top IARU official, the President of IARU Region I blasted the conduct of some contesters in the recent 2010 CQ 160 SSB Contest, saying a number of stations from Europe and Africa were making contacts on frequencies not allocated to their countries, raising the specter of possible contest disqualifications.

The re-score of the 2009 IARU HF Contest has prompted an official protest, as the Unión de Radioaficionados Españoles has asked the ARRL to revisit its decision to add back certain "unique" contacts, which put DA0HQ of Germany in first place over AO8HQ.

Two weeks after an ARRL DX CW Contest that saw much more action on 15 meters than in recent years, the hope is that this weekend's ARRL DX SSB Contest will enjoy good propagation as well, as a Single Operator shootout seems to be brewing in the Carribean for this year's contest.

The results are out for the 2010 North American Sprint CW Contest, as N5KO won his first Sprint, while N9CK and KA9FOX kept their winning streaks alive in the Sprint speciality, as radio-sport.net Special Correspondent Jim George N3BB runs down the first Sprint of 2010. Also, check out the results of the 2009 Stew Perry 160 Meter Contest.

For a second straight year, the ARRL has been forced to rescore the final numbers in the IARU HF Contest, again shuffling the Top Ten boxes of a number of categories, after the results had already been finalized and printed in the March edition QST Magazine. The culpirt this time was log checking software that tossed out any unique calls in a log entry.

After an active ARRL DX CW contest weekend that saw life in the high bands, the focus for contesters shifts back to Topband and 160 meters for the 2010 CQ 160 SSB Contest. The goal for this year is certainly to hang onto some of the special propagation that boosted scores in the 2009 SSB test. VE3EY is the defending Single Operator High Power champ.

The CQ WW Contest Committee will change how it pays for its new contest observer program in the wake of a public falling out with the ham radio contester who paid almost $4,000 US to fund three observer trips during the 2009 CQ WW CW contest. Also, the focus of log checks in that contest is again on EF8M and Valery Komarov RD3AF, who was disqualified in the 2008 CW test.

So far, 2010 has seen only two days without sunspots, and while sunspot numbers have not been especially high, HF propagation has been showing some signs of life, pumping up expectations for this year's ARRL DX CW Contest. Defending overall single operator champ Scott Redd K0DQ will be back on the air this year from a snowy, but different QTH.

Two years after winning the CQ 160 CW Contest from his Moroccan QTH, Jim Sullivan W7EJ seems headed for another Single Operator High Power victory, as he owns an over half million point lead over defending champ Valery Komarov RD3AF. Meanwhile in the US, Team K1LZ overcame big time weather troubles to post a record breaking Multi-Op score.

After a record-setting event last year in which seventy percent of the worldwide records were broken, organizers of the CQ WPX RTTY Contest are hoping for another strong turnout in 2010, with the defending champ hoping that Aruba will again be a lucky charm, as Ed Muns W0YK/P49X tries for another major RTTY title.

A year ago, it was almost impossible to find a day with sunspots in January of 2009. Fast forward to January 2010, and it was almost impossible to find a day without sunspots, as a steady stream of limited sunspot action is now visible on the Sun. It gives hope to those ham radio contesters and DX'ers who have been waiting for years for 10 and 15 meters to finally return on a regular basis.

While there are no major contests on this first weekend of February 2010, there is no reason to keep your radio off, as the Minnesota QSO Party leads a wide range of offerings that can occupy any CW, SBB or RTTY contest buff. There are five QSO Parties, the XE RTTY, and the North American Sprint CW contest.

After finishing third in 2008, Bill Kollenbaum K4XS ran his KH7XS station on the Big Island to victory from Hawaii in the ARRL SSB Sweepstakes. While Kollenbaum won in high power, Mitch Mason K7RL captured his fourth straight Unlimited title. Meanwhile Team W6YI not only won again in the Multi section, but set both the CW and SSB records for Multi ops in the 2009 Sweepstakes contsts.

The 2009 ARRL Sweepstakes CW Contest was a record setting event, as Steve London N2IC set a new high power mark while winning his third straight Single Operator High Power title, and Team W6YI took a third consecutive Multi-op win, breaking a 14 year old record in the process. Also, the ARRL reports a record number of logs were submitted for both the CW and SSB Sweepstakes events.

Three observers sent by the CQ WW Contest Committee to check for cheating by top Single Operators in the 2009 CQ WW CW Contest found no rules violations in their checks three top stations in that test, the first use of contest monitors under new rules developed last year to address cheating concerns.

As the CQ 160 CW Contest returns for 2010, don't worry if you find yourself dreaming about last year, because it might be hard to imagine better conditions on Topband than the 2009 CQ 160 CW test, when the band lit up almost like it was 20 meters. Defending champ Valery Komarov RD3AF will be back this year as EF8M from the Canary Islands.